


We'll be fine

by Spider_Aye



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2019-12-27 00:33:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18293264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spider_Aye/pseuds/Spider_Aye
Summary: Karen Campbell is a completely average teenage girl. Her life is basically perfect. Loving and caring parents, good friends at school, good marks, a quite nice appearance... She couldn't ask for more. Unluckily, lifes like this one like to break. That's exactly what happened to her when she was only 17. The world ended.------This story will take place during all game's seasons and will obviously have spoilers. I was also thinking that each chapter will be game's chapters [not episodes] and I'll use their names as well.------Not much of the story will be changed, just a little, maybe some characters will go missing instead of dying, but who really knows? I'll try not to treat anyone like an extra set of hands and give them a little piece of backstory, but I'm not sure how will it work.-----Go and read it and have fun~!





	1. The End Of The World

**Author's Note:**

> That's my first story here and I'm not sure how it works, but, well, enjoy!

Karen ran out from the gym. This was all wrong. All crazy. A moment earlier she was just happy, calm, talking with friends, laughing, and now she was running with nothing but a little hope. As soon as she heard the news about people going crazy and eating each other alive she simply got up and ran out. She was far from home, so far from home. She felt that going on this school trip would end badly, but couldn't predict that it'd be THIS bad. She was running in hope to get home before events would go further. She only knew that she was near Atlanta, but nothing more. She decided to head there so she could catch a ride, or at least find some help. She left all her friends and classmates behind only to find her family.

After a few hours walk, she was already very tired and the night was setting in. She was walking through some nice and quiet neighborhood, looking around. It was way too quiet for this hour. She was nervously looking around, hoping to spot any possible danger before it'd actually approach her. All lights were off in the nearby houses, almost all windows covered and not a sound. Suddenly, she saw a small figure hiding behind a car. She slowly started approaching it with a worried expression. She wasn't sure if this person, a child probably, would attack her, just like they warned in news.

"Hey, are you friendly?" she asked, and the figure jumped and started running. Karen decided to follow the kid.

As soon as she looked at the road that was going right, she froze up. She saw neighborhood looking similar to the one she was just going through, but... completely destroyed. Cars in the middle of the road were just blocking the path. Houses seemed untouched. Karen sped up, chasing the kid she now could identify as a little girl. She asked the child to wait a few times, but her asks were never answered. Instead, the girl ran into one of the houses and closed the door behind her. Karen ended up standing in front of the building. She couldn't just go in, that would be a break in. She was just about to leave, but the door opened again, reviling a woman in her mid-20s holding a kitchen knife.

"What do you want? Don't hurt us, please!" she said, her hands shaking. Karen could easily tell the woman was scared. She could also see the girl she's been chasing hiding behind the woman, but peeking out.

"I- I don't intend to. I just want to catch a ride, eventually, get some food. I was wondering if you didn't have any?" Karen said, scared the woman would hurt her.

"We do." the little girl said, only to be shushed by the woman.

"Clementine! Don't tell strangers this stuff!" she said.

"But we can share, right? We have a lot." girl probably named Clementine said.

"Just... fine! Come on in, it's dangerous outside." the woman said, sighing in defeat and lowering her weapon.

Karen nodded, quickly getting into the house. When she entered she could see it from the inside. The house was small but had two floors. On the one all three girls were, there was a living room connected with the kitchen. She could see a glass door leading to the backyard. The stairs were leading upstairs, probably to the sleeping rooms and bathroom. House was pretty cozy and surely seemed nice. The girl, Clementine, ran into the kitchen and came back a moment later with an apple and a glass of water, while the woman was still eyeing Karen. 

"Here you go." Clementine said, sending the teenage girl a smile.

"Thank you." Karen answered, returning a smile "You're Clementine, right?"

"Yeah. And that's Sandra." The girl said, pointing at the adult.

"My name's Karen." the teenage girl said. Suddenly Sandra took Clementine's hand and pulled her closer to the stairs. They both sat down on them, having Karen sit on the couch.

"Clementine, what did I tell you about running off?" the woman asked.

"I'm sorry." Clementine answered.

"You know something bad could've happened, right?"

"Yeah." Clementine said, looking down.

"Just, don't do this again, okay?"

"Okay. I promise." the girl promised.

Karen ate up the apple and drank almost all the water she got. She'd feel uncomfortable with staying here even a little while longer. She didn't want to push her luck any further. She got up and approached the two, scratching her back.

"Thank you very much for the help, but I think I'll be going now. I don't want to be a problem for you." she said.

"You're welcome." Sandra said.

"Good luck getting home." Clementine waved goodbye.

Karen was just about to leave, when someone started banging on the door. Not knocking, simply banging, like they wanted the door to fall apart. All the girls froze up. Sandra was the first one to start thinking again. She took the knife and then patted Karen's shoulder to snap her out. Karen turned around, her eyes kinda scared, but it wasn't surprising, someone was trying to break in!

"Listen to me. Take Clementine upstairs and keep her safe. Okay?" Sandra ordered. Karen blinked a few times.

"Y-Yeah, okay." she said, turned to Clementine and knelt beside her. "Come on, let's get upstairs. We'll hide in your room, okay?" she offered.

The girl nodded, and so they both got up and ran upstairs. Clementine pointed at the door and they both got into her room. Its walls were yellow, the be was wooden and had pink shifts, she had a whole book regal. It was filled with colorful books and notebooks. She also had a wooden desk on which some paper and crayons were lying. The girl sat on her bed and Karen looked at the drawings hanged in the room.

"You're a great artist." she said and Clementine smiled faintly.

"Thanks." she said.

Then, they heard the sound of things getting knocked over downstairs. Sounds of fighting. Sandra was shouting threats at the stranger that probably broke the door down. Clementine seemed terrified, so Karen send her a resurrecting smile.

"We'll be fin-" she was cut off by Sandra screaming in pain. Karen went pale, hearing the woman screaming her name.

"KAREN! TAKE CARE OF CLEMEN-" the woman didn't get to finish her sentence. Ever. Then, there was silence. Silence, and growls.

"Is there anywhere we can hide?" Karen asked, afraid the stranger would look for them.

"I- I tree house in the back yard." Clementine mumbled.

"Yeah. Yeah, that would work. Take stuff you want to have with you overnight, that's where we'll sleep." Karen said, unsure what was she doing.

Clementine took some paper and crayons, a walkie talkie, a pillow and put on a hat with the blue letter "D". Karen looked out from the window. There was an easy way down. She sighed and found Clementine looking at her.

"You'll have to trust me." Karen told her. "We'll go out through the window. I'll go first and then you'll have to go yourself. Just jump, I'll catch you. I promise." Karen said and Clementine nodded.

After another deep sigh, Karen opened the window and slowly got through it. She was holding on to the windowsill as long as she could, but had to let go eventually. She fell, making a little noise, but didn't attract any attention. Clementine peeked out. Karen showed her thumbs up to make her jump, and so did the girl. Karen caught her into her open arms, falling again. Clementine slowly opened her eyes and looked at the teenage girl.

"Good jump. Now don't worry, we just have to get up there." she pointed at the tree house. "You'll go first this time." she added and Clementine agreed by nodding.

They both got closer to the trees and clementine started climbing. A moment later, the younger girl waved to Karen to show her that it was safe to come up. Karen slowly got up to the tree house and looked at the kitchen window sadly. Suddenly, she flinched. Was that thing on the glass... blood? She couldn't let Clementine notice. She gave the girl a sign to get into the tree house and she followed inside. The tree house was small, but it could easily hold both girls inside  On the walls there were drawings, it was easy to guess that they were Clementine's.

The little girl placed her belongings in the corner and rested her head on the pillow. Karen looked at her and realized she didn't close her eyes.

"Is something wrong?" the teenage girl asked.

"I'm cold." Clementine whispered. With a sigh, Karen took off her green hoodie and covered the girl with it.

"Here, that should keep you warm. Anything else?" Karen asked, sending Clem a resurrecting smile.

"...Where's Sandra?" she asked.

"I... I'm not sure, but we'll find her tomorrow. Okay?" Karen offered. She was pretty sure that the burglar killed the woman, but she couldn't just tell the girl that she was dead.

"Okay." The child answered, covering herself tighter and closing her eyes.

After Karen was sure the girl was asleep, she crawled out from the tree house and sat on its edge. She let out a deep sigh, looking at the windows. She just wanted to get home, and now what? Now she was stuck babysitting a girl she didn't even know. She knew she couldn't leave Clementine alone and was sure girl wouldn't want to leave, so she didn't know what to do.

Suddenly, she saw someone looking through the kitchen window. The person looked terrifying, was all covered up in blood, was pale and was growling quietly. Was that the burglar? No, it was... It was Sandra. Karen fought the urge to vomit and made her way back inside the tree house. The image of the woman was hunting her each time her eyes closed, so she couldn't fall asleep. She just kept on glancing at Clementine, making sure the girl was asleep and safe. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it, now Karen won't make it home. Now she'll be taking care of Clementine, hiding in her tree house and praying for rescue. But I think we all know that it won't last. That people will come, situations will change and many will lose their lives.


	2. Monsters

In the morning Karen couldn't see Sandra anywhere in the house, so she decided to get some food. Clementine was already awake, so she just asked her to stay, for her own good. She slowly and quietly entered the house through the back door. Sandra was still nowhere to be seen. Karen assumed that if the woman was still alive, she went to get help in some hospital. But when she saw her last night she didn't look alive though...

With a deep sigh, Karen shook away all these thoughts and started picking up food and water. She didn't get much before seeing a giant blood stain running down the wall. She flinched and tried to calm herself down once more.  There was more than enough to survive a few days. When she took all she could, she went back to the tree house, left the food and went back for more. After a few rounds, there wasn't much left. As she was carrying the last of it, she reached out to a vase full of fruits.

"Don't take them." she heard behind her and immediately jumped, dropping all the food. She turned around at the speed of light, and then she saw Clementine standing behind her. "They're fake." the girl added.

"I thought I told you to stay." Karen said, leaning down to get the food.

"Sorry. But I can help you carry it." Clementine offered.

"Fine." Karen agreed. "You take this food to the tree house and I'll check if there's any more."

Clementine left and Karen looked around once more. There was no food left, just dishes and cutlery. She was just about to leave the house, when she saw Clem through the window. The girl looked terrified. Karen immediately turned around and looked right into Sandra's eyes. Eyes, that were empty. Sandra was making weird sounds, something like growling, and was approaching slowly.

"Sandra?" Karen asked. "What are you doing here? You gotta get to the hospital before you bleed out-" Karen was cut off by Sandra attacking her.

Karen immediately started struggling, trying to push the woman off of her, while Sandra was trying to sink her teeth into the teenage girl's face. That's when Karen remembered more clearly what they were saying in news about people eating each other. They were assuming that it was some sort of infection that could spread when an infected person was eating another one. That could mean Sandra was infected! Karen finally pushed the woman off, and when she did, she went to the right. When the woman attacked again, the girl already had a weapon. A kitchen knife.

"Don't make me do this!" Karen said, threateningly rising the knife, but Sandra didn't mind. Karen tried to push her off again, but she knew it wouldn't work.

Eventually, she swung the knife and cut woman's side. She started screaming she was sorry, but was cut off by the woman attacking again. She pushed her to the ground and then, fearfully, she found herself on top of the woman, stabbing her over and over again in the chest, until there was a big blood pool on the floor. She started breathing heavily, realizing she just committed a murder. That was, until the woman jumped at her again, still growling, still fighting. Karen jumped away in shock and took some steps backward, until her back hit the countertop. She immediately jumped on it to avoid Sandra's hands. Then, she got up, ran for a moment and got out through the window, losing it before Sandra could follow. Then, she found Clementine in the backyard.

"Get to the tree house!" Karen commanded. Clementine was halfway through, when Sandra found the way outside. "Hurry, hurry!" Karen shouted. 

"You can go!" Clem shouted, crawling up.

Karen started climbing, and when she was already holding the last step, Clem caught her hand and tried to pull her up. It wasn't helping much, but a little at least, so Karen reached the top before Sandra could get there. A moment later Karen sat on the edge, breathing heavily, looking at her hands and grey T-Shirt covered up in blood. Clementine went inside, but came back a moment later, holding a walkie talkie. She pushed a button, and a weird sound came from the kitchen. The second walkie? Sandra stopped coming at the girls and immediately turned around. She went back into the house.

"I think she came because you dropped food." Clementine said, looking down. "I'm sorry I came."

"It's fine, we didn't get hurt. But she... did you see what she survived?" Karen asked, still not believing in what just happened.

"She was like a monster from a scary tale." Clementine said.

"And she wasn't any human-like." Karen said, looking down at her hands once more.

"Smells gross." Clementine said, looking at the blood.

"I'll try to take care of it." Karen promised.

"Okay. I got a hammer." Clementine said, pointing at the corner, where the said tool was lying.

"Good. It's something. But don't go down anymore, okay?"

"Okay..." Clementine said quietly.

Some time passed on Clementine drawing silently in the corner and Karen glancing over to the house by the tree house's window, making sure that whatever Sandra was now wouldn't come back for them. Eventually, Karen turned to the girl with a sigh. If she was supposed to take care of her until help would come, she could've got to know her a little better as well.

"Hey, Clementine, maybe we'll learn more about each other?" Karen offered.

"Sure." the girl answered, sitting up.

"So maybe you'll ask me a question and answer it yourself as well? Later I will do the same." Karen came up with an idea.

"Okie-Dokie! So, do you have a brother or sister?" Clementine asked.

"Nah. And you?" Karen asked.

"Nope." Clementine answered.

"Really? I thought that ...she... was your sister." Karen said, glancing over to the house.

"Sandra was my babysitter." Clementine answered, and that made Karen wonder.

"Where... are your parents?" she asked with hesitation.

"They're in Savanah. But they'll be back soon." Clementine assured.

"Well, mine are home, but it was me who was away." Karen said.

"Oh. Are you going to find them?" Clementine asked.

"Maybe. But not before I make sure you're safe." Karen answered. She didn't want to admit, but she lost almost all her hope to see any of her friends or family members alive as soon as she saw Sandra.

"Okay." Clementine said with a small smile. "Do you have any pets?"

"I used to have a dog, but we gave him away to my grandparents." Karen said, calling back the memories.

"That's nice. I used to have a pet hamster." Clementine cheered.

"I bet he was cute. Uh, how old are you exactly?" Karen asked.

"I'm 8." Clementine answered straightly.

"Nice. I'm 17, but some people say I'm childish." Karen said, scratching her back.

"What do you do for fun?" Clem asked. "I draw and play with my walkie." she added almost immediately.

"I like traveling, reading and I play on guitar sometimes." Karen said.

"Hm... I don't have any more ideas for questions." Clementine realized.

"Well, I'm all out as well, so I'll just think of a way to wash my clothes." Karen said.

It was hard, but after some time she finally found a way. Or at least felt like it. She asked Clementine to keep the walkie on and calling, and crawled down from the tree house with her hoodie in her hand. She slowly entered the house, seeing Sandra desperately looking for the sound's source. She quietly snuck up to the front door and grabbed the remote. Then she made her way to the stairs, and making sure he was not visible for anyone near the TV, she turned it on. The sound immediately attracted Sandra's attention and the dead woman approached the machine. Karen was about to sneak away, but the voice of the journalist got her attention.

"We still don't know what caused the whole situation, but things are not looking up. We're losing contact with all the big cities. New York was cut off yesterday already, Los Angeles stopped answering around midnight last night, we didn't hear from Houston and Chicago since 6 am, Detroit didn't send any messages since 8 am, Orlando stopped communicating with us around 10 am, while the last message from Atlanta came to us at 2 pm, and was cut off in the middle by growls and screaming. Here, in our studio, in Washington, the little food we had is running out fast and most people are leaving to find their families. But, don't give up the hope just yet, the president said that military's already being organized to help civilians." the reporter said. Karen swallowed in. The whole  _country_ was falling apart.

She quickly got upstairs and took off her T-Shirt. She closed the door behind her after entering the bathroom and then threw her T-Shirt into the sink. She put her hoodie on and a moment later water was pouring on her T-Shirt., washing all the blood and bad smell off. She washed her hands in the meantime, waiting for the shirt to be clean. When started shaking her clothing to make it at least a little dryer, someone banged at the door just like it happened last night. Karen quickly opened the window and without a second thought in her head jumped out, she didn't even turn off the water. She landed in the backyard once more, but didn't run back into the tree house, but into the home instead. She quickly got to the stairs again and she saw Sandra trying to get into the bathroom.

She fastly and as quietly as possible moved one of the bookstands close to the stairs and placed it on the way down. Luckily, the dead woman was still distracted by the running water inside the room. Now it would take a lot more time for Sandra to get back down. Karen turned around and made her way into the backyard, climbing into the tree house just seconds later. She was greeted by Clementine's smile.

"You made it." the girl cheered.

"Had any doubt? We just need to wait for my T-Shirt to dry and we'll be good. Also, Sandra's stuck upstairs now." Karen said.

She and Clementine sat down in the tree house, the younger girl showing her new guardian drawings she made of her parents and them both. Karen smiled at it all, even though she knew stuff outside wasn't any good. She smiled, because, same as Clementine, she felt safe now. But would it last?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to kinda develop Karen's character in this one by the asking-questions thing and I think I did great, but it's left for you to judge.  
> In the next chapter, Lee will finally show up! Stay tuned!


	3. Adventures in Babysitting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lee's here!

A few days passed and both Karen and Clementine were already sick of living in the tree house. Except for one time when a living man tried to break in only to be stopped by so-called by both girls 'monsters', not much has happened. Even though it was around noon, both girls were asleep, gaining strength and passing time. Then, in the nearby forest, some screams were hearable. They woke the younger girl up, but Karen stayed asleep. Clementine peeked outside of the treehouse, wondering what could it be. As far as she was concerned, monsters didn't talk nor scram, they only growled. Quietly, not to wake Karen up, the girl got out and slowly climbed down the tree, going towards the forest. She pushed through that one board that was always moving in the fence and wandered into the forest. She saw a dark-skinned man struggling with a gun against a monster. In terror, she watched this scene, not willing to move a muscle. She just couldn't bring herself to it.

Suddenly, the man fired his gun, shooting the monster in the head. It fell onto the ground and stopped moving afterward. Clementine couldn't believe it, when Karen was fighting Sandra, the dead woman could take many hits and stabs and kept going, while this monster here just died after one shot. The girl took a few steps forward, to see the man better, while also looking around if the gunshot didn't attract any monsters. But when she looked back at him, he was also looking at her. 

"HELP!" he shouted, waving to her "Go get someone. There- There's been a shooting!" he added, still trying to get her attention. But then, Clementine spotted a few monsters closing in. She didn't want to get circled or hurt, so she turned around and ran back, heading to her backyard.

Meanwhile, the gunshot woke Karen up and now the teenage girl was freaking out, trying to spot Clementine somewhere. She took a fast glance at the forest and saw the girl running in the fence's direction. Without a second thought, she jumped off the tree house. A second later Clementine entered the backyard, without Karen's help. The teen ran up to the girl, feeling relived a little.

"Thank GOD, Clementine! Where were you?" she asked.

"There's a man." Clem whispered.

Karen immediately turned around, dragging the girl behind her, and helped her climb the tree house. Then, she followed, and as she was jumping into the small wooden building, she saw dark hands of man, climbing the fence. Clementine seemed very scared by the intruded, so Karen gave her a small hug and shushed her. In silence, they were looking at the man circling the place, visibly limping. It wasn't hard to see that his right leg was bleeding. He called out for anyone a few times, before going quiet, believing that he was alone. At some point, he approached the tree. Karen's heart dropped, not knowing what would the man do. Clementine slowly reached out and grabbed the hammer, ready to jump out and drop it on stranger's head. That's when he spoke out.

"I'd fill one of those teacups with some bourbon if I could." the man mumbled to himself and then walked away.

Karen let out her breath, knowing the man went away. She couldn't believe the stranger was thinking about drinking in a moment like this, but there was nothing was to be done. He then banged on the glass door leading into the house.

"Hello?" he asked "Anybody home? I need a little help..." he added. When the answer didn't come, he kept on speaking. "Coming in. Don't shoot, okay?" the man said, entering the house. Then, he smelled the blood. "Oh shit." he swore. "I'm not an intruder... or one of THEM!" he shouted, looking around. Then, he finally SAW the blood. "These people might need more help than I do..." He mumbled to himself.

He then was looking around the house and stayed out of sight for a few good minutes. Karen was very close to the window, looking for any movement, while Clementine curled up in the corner with her walkie in her hands. She then tried to connect with the other one in the kitchen, making a lot of noise. Karen now could see the man was still there and was about to thank the girl for this, but then Clem started a conversation with the stranger.

"You're not my daddy." she whispered.

"Hello?" the man answered, finding the second walkie hidden in one of the drawers in the kitchen.

"You need to be quiet." the girl advised him. Karen jumped in and tried to take the walkie from her, unsuccessfully, though.

"Who is this?" the man asked.

"I'm Clementine. This is my house." Clem said. With a sigh, Karen gave up on taking the thing from her.

"Hi, Clementine. I'm Lee." the man introduced himself.

"You're not my daddy." she said again.

"No, I'm not." the man said sadly. "How old are you?" he asked.

"Eight." Clementine said. Then, Karen got an idea. 

"Keep him busy, Clem, I'll sneak out and see if there's anything I can do." Karen whispered and then crawled out from the tree house with the hammer. 

"Eight? And you're all alone?" the man asked. 

"...I was with Sandra... How old are you?" Clementine asked, keeping the conversation going. 

"I'm, uhh... 37." the man answered. 

"Ok." Clem said. 

 "Where are your parents?" the man asked.

"They took a trip and left me with Sandra. They're in Savanah, I think. Where the boats are?" Clem said truthfully.

"Are you safe?" Lee asked.

"I'm outside in my tree house. They can't get in." Clem said.

"That's smart." Lee commented.

"See?" Clementine said, leaning out from the tree house. "I can see you through the window." she said. The man waved to her and a moment later Clem screamed, seeing Sandra behind him.

The man turned around, immediately starting to struggle with her, as she was trying to bite him. Finally, he was able to push her off. He tried to run, but slipped on the blood pool that was left after Karen tried to save her life from the monster. His vision went blurry and he could hardly see the monster crawling towards him. Yet, he somehow managed to kick the woman. He then tried to run away, but she caught his leg and tried to pull him closer to her. He started hicking her, she wasn't letting go, Clementine went down from the tree house, and Karen was already in the room, yet unnoticed. She didn't know what to do. What if the man would turn out to be dangerous?

Finally, Karen let go of the hammer and ran up to the Sandra, who was already on top of the man, and tried to pull her off. The monster was confused by two people around it, for a moment couldn't decide who to attack first. That's when Clementine entered. She was terrified, she stood there frozen for a moment and then spotted the hammer. She slid it to the man on the ground and he took it, and after a moment of hesitation, he smacked Sandra with it. She fell off him, Karen stepped away and got closer to Clem, and the man got up, placed his foot on woman's chest and hit her in the face with the hammer. She was still moving, so he smacked her again. She slowly reached up, so he hit her one and final time. Then, he took a deep breath as the blood spilled on the floor.

"Man... H- Hi there." he said, straightening up. "My name's Lee." he introduced himself to Karen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued soon...


	4. In your charge

Karen blinked, looking at the man. He was all covered in blood and was holding a hammer he just used on the probably dead babysitter, and just now he figured it'd be nice to introduce himself. Clementine was also shocked, looking at Sandra's now-dead-for-sure body. The man sighed, he knew his first impression didn't go well.

"Did you kill it?" Clementine asked, looking at Sandra. The man hesitated before answering.

"I think something else did. Before me, I think." he said, looking around.

"We heard her scream two nights ago. Maybe one of the monsters got her." Clem guessed.

"Two nights ago? Yeah, that's... probably what happened." Lee said. He then knelt down, looking at Clementine.

"You've been all by yourselves through this?" he asked her, glancing over Karen.

"Well, at the begging Sandra was here too." Karen said, looking at the corpse.

"We're waiting for my parents to come home." Clementine added. The man looked down sadly, immediately guessing what Karen was in denial about for past few days.

"I... think that might be a while, you know?" he said, looking at Karen. The teenage girl nodded sadly.

"Oh." Clementine said quietly.

"Look, I don't know what's going on, but I'll try to look after you two until it happens, okay?" Lee offered. For some reason Karen trusted him. So did Clementine.

"What should we do now?" the little girl asked.

"I think... We need to get out of this neighborhood; it's not safe. We're less likely to be seen if we move at night." Lee said.

"My parents might come home." Clementine protested.

"We won't go far. We'll try to find a shelter and come back here with others." Lee explained, but Clem was still not so kin on the idea.

"But why can't we stay?" Clem asked. Karen knelt beside her.

"Clem, sweetie, look, we're low on everything, we need more food, more water, more everything. Also, do you really want to stay here with... with Sandra like this?" Karen asked. Clem looked down.

"Okay. We can hide in my tree house until it's dark." Clem offered.

"It'll be a tough climb with my leg, but that's a good idea." the man agreed.

Sometime later Clem was sitting in the corner, drawing, while Karen was watching the street in hope to spot something helpful. Lee was sitting quietly, looking at his leg. It was not getting better, it still hurt. With a sigh he also looked out from a small window, glancing over the forest. He still remembered how many 'monsters' was chasing him back there less than an hour ago. Finally, he looked at Karen.

"So... are you the girl's sister? Or maybe babysitter?" he guessed. Karen looked at him.

"No and no. I'm... I didn't know her before the bad things started happening. Then, I run into her. I'm just a stranger." Karen said, honestly. Lee nodded in understanding and then everyone went quiet again.

When it was already dark outside, everyone snuck out. Clementine promised to stay close to Lee, who, wanted it or not, immediately became the girl's father figure. They slowly got closer to the fence and they opened it. Everything was so quiet, unusually quiet. Very slowly, Karen took the lead and looked around. A little scared, she realized some new cars arrived at the street. None of them were moving, but drivers could still be around. Lee caught up with her and it seemed like they would safely make it out from the neighborhood until a gunshot rang out. Karen immediately caught Clementine and ducked under a car. Lee joined them a second later, his hurt leg kinda slowing him down.

"I've found the bastard!" the stranger shouted.

"Are we going to die?" Clementine asked terrified.

"No. Definitely not." Karen said, pulling the girl into a hug.

"Don't worry, they're after me, not you." Lee said.

"Why?" Clem asked.

"The hell do you mean they're after you?" Karen hissed. Before Lee could even try to explain, the stranger shouted again.

"Stay down! Georgia State Patrol!" the man shouted. Karen sighed in relief.

"Thank god..." she whispered. "That's the police, we're saved." she added, but Lee's expression didn't change. He got up with his hands raised.

"I'll come quietly!" he said. Clementine followed his lead, also putting her hands up. Karen joined, she had no idea what was happening now, though. "There's a little girl there!" he added.

Now, that everyone was standing, Karen could see the cop. He was wearing a uniform and badge, he had dark skin and black hair, was approaching slowly with a gun pointed at them. Behind him, there was another man, but not a cop. He was wearing a green-grey shirt and had black, pointy hair. He seemed extremely worried, while the cop seemed to keep his cool.

"Oh shit! You're not one of those things." the cop swore, putting the gun back.

"Neither of us are." Lee added, seeming confused.

"Wait; why'd you say you'd come quietly?" the cop asked. That question also bothered Karen.

"You're the law, you know?" Lee answered. "You don't mess with that." he explained himself. No one pushed on him.

"Aww, man. No shit. I'm sorry about that." the cop said.

"Could you watch your language? We have an 8-year-old here!" Karen hissed.

"God, I'm sorry again." the cop said. Then, the man behind the cop stepped closer.

"My name's Shawn, Shawn Greene." he introduced himself. "This is Andre-" he tried to also introduce his friend, but he cut him off.

"Officer Mitchel." the cop said.

"Did you see any of those things? One of them just got out buddy, Chet." Shawn asked.

"I saw a lot in the forest, but that was a while ago." Lee said.

"Also, there was a woman named Sandra, she acted like one of them. She's... taken care of." Karen added. "And I'm sorry about your friend, I'm sure he was nice." Karen said and Shawn nodded.

"Yeah, one we're looking for is still in the neighborhood." the cop said.

"Oh shit. You hurt your leg pretty bad." Shawn noticed, pointing at Lee's knee.

"Language!" Karen hissed again.

"Sorry." Shawn said and then continued. "Look, help us find the thing that got our buddy and we'll take you and your daughters down to my dad's farm to safety. He should be able to fix your leg up, too." Shawn offered.

"Oh, I'm not their dad. I'm... the babysitter." Lee said. "Her parents are out of town."

"Yeah, I stumbled across him and the girl during the first day." Karen said, playing along.

"Whoever you are, let's get a move on." the cop hurried.

"We just w-" Lee said, but was cut off by growling. Then, from behind one of the cars, a monster in a dirty white T-shirt covered in blood and with light brown hair came out slowly, pale as all other ones.

"Oh SHIT. That's Chet!" Shawn shouted. This time Karen didn't bother him with language, now "Chet" was dangerous and they had to focus on surviving.

"Let's go!" The cop shouted. "Get into my car!" he ordered, aiming the gun at Shawn's friend."GO!" he hurried.

Karen grabbed Clementine again and followed Lee to the back sits, while Shawn sat next to the driver's sit. The cop was aiming the gun at the dead man for a couple more seconds, but then he let go and jumped into the driver's sit. He pressed the gas and the car moved, leaving old neighborhood and Chet behind. A moment later they were already on the open road. Clementine, sitting next to the right window, fell asleep soon enough. Lee, next to the left window also seemed tired, but Karen wasn't sleepy at all. She leaned out to the front sits and looked at Shawn.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Y- yeah, it's just- He was DEAD, I saw him DYING, I checked if he was breathing and if his heart was beating and it was NOT, and now...? Now he just STOOD there, right where we left his body! That's just- I don't get it!" Shawn said, shocked by the even.

"Try to calm yourself down, soon you'll be home." Karen said.

"Actually, Shawn, I can stop if you want. I think- I think you need to take a break. To get some air." Andre offered. Shawn nodded in agreement.

The cop slowly pulled up on the side of the road and Shawn left the car. Lee's leg still hurt, but he also figured he'd take a breath. In the end, only Clementine stayed inside, as Karen and Andre also found a small break a good idea. They just all were slowly circling around the car, looking around. Shawn sat down eventually, looking at the ground. Karen wanted to say something to make him feel better, but couldn't think of anything. She was aware that her friends were also probably dead, but it was different from seeing their corpses, or even worse, seeing their corpses walking around. She was about to sit next to him, when Andre shouted in fear.

"Those things are here!" he alarmed everyone.

No one was to blame for not seeing them sooner, it was just very dark, but now the monsters were just a few feet away from the car. Karen caught confused Shawn's hand and pulled him into the car. She saw that Lee took the sit that was closer to him than any other, front sit that is, and with Andre driving, that left two sits in back empty, so that's where Karen jumped in with Shawn. Andre started the car and, hitting one of the monsters, rode away. Karen sat up, looking Shawn over. He seemed okay. Clementine opened her eyes slowly, looking around.

"What's happening?" she asked in a sleepy voice.

"Not much, we just stopped for a moment." Karen said. "Go back to sleep, there's still some road ahead of us." she added, and a moment later the girl was already asleep again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, so, I decided to choose the "get out of here after the sun goes down" option instead of leaving at day, because this option turned out a little more interesting than I thought and is a lot less known, so I could make it at least a little more surprising. Also, in the upcoming chapters, with Hershel, I might add some stuff because I read ALL the TWD comic books so I know, for example, Shawn's siblings that didn't appear in the game, and since game and comics are the same universe, the info should click. With that said, I wish you all good day and say see you!


	5. Rock and a Hard Place [1/2]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since this part of the game is longer than other ones, I'll go ahead and split it in two.

"Are you feeling any better?" Karen asked, glancing over to Shawn.

They didn't dare to stop so Lee could switch his sit with Shawn, so it just stayed the way it was when everyone jumped in when escaping the walkers. Shawn didn't say a thing since the car started and Karen got worried about him.

"Huh? Yeah, I'll guess I'll be fine." he answered, looking blankly into space.

"So, that farm of yours. Is it big?" the teenage girl asked, wanting to make a conversation.

"Yeah. And I mean it. There's so much space around it... miles! And the house is gigantic, but it has to be to fit us all in." Shawn answered and he smiled slightly at the memory of home.

"And how many of you are there, actually?" Karen asked out of curiosity.

"Heh. Eight. We're a big family." he said. "I have two brothers, Arnold, who's older than me, and Billy, who's younger."

"That still leaves 5?" Karen counted.

"Well, my dad's with us." he shrugged.

"Aaand the missing half of the house?" Karen asked. Shawn smirked.

"Four sisters. No kidding. Lacey, Maggie, Rachel, and Susie." the counted out.

"Looks like your house's full of people. Are you sure there'll be enough space for us?" Karen joked.

"Well, there's one spare room. And if it's too small, we always have the barn." Shawn said.

"You CAN'T be serious." 

"Hey, it's not this bad in there. Not as many spiders as you'd think." Shawn joked and it was easily visible that the conversation was making feel better.

"Actually, it's probably better than a tree house. Anything's better. Just look at Clem, she enjoys a car more than she probably ever will." Karen pointed out, remembering how uncomfortable the ground was.

"There's hay in there, it should be comfy." Shawn cheered her.

"Fine, I'll take it." Karen agreed in the end.

"Don't I get to say anything?" Lee asked, turning around in his sit.

"Go ahead." Karen smiled at him.

"Wherever I can sleep, I'll take it as well." he said, stretching his arms.

"Just wait until we get there. Then my dad will help with your leg and you all will get to sleep." Shawn promised.

It wasn't long since then until they all saw a light in the middle of nowhere and it wasn't hard to guess that it was where they were heading. The cop pulled down windows and fresh night air filled the car, making everyone smile a little. It was just so nice. Clementine woke up because of the sounds that got louder with the windows down and immediately got interested in what was happening around her. The farm was getting closer and soon Karen knew Shawn wasn't messing around while telling how big his house was. Yet, considering it was supposed to hold 8 people, it had to be full. The cop slowly pulled over and everyone left the car, except for the driver, of course.

"Say hi to your dad." Andre asked Shawn as the young farmer leaned over to the car.

"Yeah." Shawn answered.

"I'm sorry, Shawn. Chet was a good dude." the officer tried to comfort him.

"One of the best." Shawn said quietly and after a moment turned away and made his way into the house.

"Take care, people." Andre said, waving goodbye as he started the car again and slowly rode away.

Then, the door to the house opened before Shawn could even get close to them. Everyone watched as an elderly man with light grey hair made his way outside, probably alarmed by the sound of a car outside his house. He already had wrinkles and a lot of facial hair, but something about him was trustworthy. He was wearing a dark green jacket and a pair of jeans. He seemed a little bit too old to be Shawn's older brother, so Karen assumed it was his dad. He smiled and stepped down from the porch.

"Thank God, you're okay." he said, coming closer to Shawn. 

"I was worried it'd be bad here, too." Shawn admitted as the man pulled him into a hug.

"Been quiet as usual the past couple days. Ol' Breckon down the way thinks his mare's gone lame, but that ain't nothing new. Otis and Patricia also visited today, but they're home now." his father said, pulling away and letting his son catch up to what was happening in past days.

"I ran into Andre in near Atlanta, and uh... Chet... he got killed." Shawn mumbled.

"No. You're kidding." his father said shocked, he was turning his head in denial.

"Those things got him. Dad, I don't know what's going on." Shawn said honestly.

"I'm sorry, Shawn." his father tried to comfort him. Then they both turned to Lee, Clementine, and Karen. "You've brought a couple guests." his father said.

"Your boy's a lifesaver." Lee said.

"Glad he could be of help somebody." he said. "So it's just you and your daughters?"

"Oh, not his daughters. He was babysitting the little one and they offered help to Karen." Shawn explained fastly.

"Honey, do you know this man?" Hershel asked, kneeling down to Clementine's level.

"Yes." Clementine answered directly.

"And the girl?" he asked, glancing over Karen.

"Not really. But she's nice." Clementine said and Karen couldn't help but realize how good at lying Clem was.

"Okay then." the man said, standing up. "Well, looks like you hurt your leg pretty bad there." he pointed out, looking at Lee.

"Yeah, it's not doing so good." Lee admitted. 

"I can help you out. Shawn, run on in and check on your sisters. You, take a seat up on the porch and I'll go see what I have." the man said.

"Something happened to Shawn's sisters?" Karen asked worriedly.

"Nothing really bad, they just caught something. It's been going on for a while now, dad said he'd send someone to get meds." Shawn explained quickly.

"An' I did. Lacey, Arnold, and Billy should be back tomorrow." the old man said. "You can go with Shawn and grab something to eat for you and your company." he added, pointing at the door.

"Okay, and thank you." Karen said and followed Shawn.

She entered the hose and saw how it looked on the inside. Everything seemed nice, the light and wooden furniture in the hall was making it look very cozy. The pictures of the family and animals hanging on the walls were making this place feel like a home full of people loving each other. Every single detail matched with everything else, the place was full of different styles and one and only style at the same time. Karen could only guess that it was how a house in which a big family lived, because she only lived with her parents and granddad. She wished her house could look like this, but she also realized how much time it had to take to make this place look like this. But no matter what, the house was like a light after being in darkness filled with human-like monsters for far too long.

"Shawn, you're back!" some girl said, standing in the door to one of the rooms. She had long, black hair and light skin. She was wearing a checkered shirt and a pair of jeans, just like probably everyone on the farm. She seemed very young, not older than 20 years old. She seemed to feel weak, she was leaning against the door and her nose was a little red. 

"Damn, Maggie, you're sick too?" Shawn asked.

"I was fine when others were leaving, I hope they return fast." the woman protected herself.

"How are Rachel and Susie?" Shawn asking, not arguing with his sister.

"They're getting better, but the faster they get medicine, the- Oh, who's that?" Maggie asked, finally spotting Karen.

"Huh? Ah, that's Karen, I ran into her in Atlanta and took her and her company here. Figured we had one more spare room." Shawn explained.

"Too bad. Otis and Patricia took it." Maggie informed him.

"Dad said they left." Shawn mumbled.

"Yeah, but they'll be back within a few days, the room's already ready for them." Maggie explained.

"Oookay, that leaves the barn only." Shawn guessed.

"Not really, we already have a family of two sleeping in there. They arrived when you were away." his sister told him.

"Okay, fine. We'll figure something out. I'll grab some food for ya'." Shawn said and left. Karen followed, she was supposed to get some food after all.

They entered the kitchen and Shawn leaned down into one of the lower shelves, when he got up he handed Karen a few bottles of water. He then started going around the kitchen, looking for some food to give her. She ended up having some bread and cheese, since those things were on top. He then grabbed something for his sick sisters and gave them it on the way to the porch.

"Hey dad, so I'm thinking, first thing tomorrow, we gotta reinforce the fence around the farm." Shawn started, going through the door.

"With what happened to your friend, maybe that's not a bad idea." the man agreed immediately.

"Where can we sleep? I've heard that house and barn are full." Karen asked.

"Don't worry, barn still has some space, you can go there." he said.

"Thank you." Clementine said with a smile and all three headed to the barn.

They all lied down on some blankets that were left on the ground and they didn't see anyone, leaving the question where was that 'family of three'. Karen quickly made out sandwiches with the things she was given and so no one was falling asleep starving. Lee was the most tired out of the tree, mostly because of the car accident and his wound, but he somehow managed to stay awake just a little while longer. Yet, his eyes were already closing.

"It smells like..." Clem said, but couldn't find a good word to describe the smell.

"Shit." Lee said, half asleep.

"Lee!" Karen hissed on him and Clementine gasped.

"That was a swear!" the girl noticed.

"Sorry, shouldn't talk like that." Lee excused himself.

"It smells like manure, Clementine." Karen said.

"...Manure? Like when a horse... plops?" Clem giggled.

"Just like that." Lee agreed. Then a bit of silence passed.

"I miss my mum and dad." Clementine said.

"I bet, Clem." Lee answered.

"We all miss our parents I think." Karen said, not knowing only Lee's opinion.

"How far is Savanah?" the little girl asked.

"Pretty far." Lee said sadly.

"Oh. Okay." Clementine said, disappointed by the distance between her and her family.

"Don't worry Clem, we'll meet them, sooner or later." Karen cheered her.

"I hope soon." the girl said, staring into the ceiling.

"We better catch some sleep before tomorrow so we have any energy to look for a way to find them. Right, Lee?" Karen asked, but didn't get any answer. Lee fell asleep. Both girls giggled quietly and then tried to fall asleep themselves.

"Good night." Clem whispered.

"Good night, have good dreams, Clem." Karen wished her and both girls drifted away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that cute evening, we're cutting it in half, you'll have to wait for the next part a few days but hopefully, it'll be finished soon. As it comes to Shawn's whole family, as I said earlier, I base all this on comics [Not the TV show, where there's a sister named Beth for example].


	6. Rock and a Hard Place [2/2]

Lee maybe was the first one to fall asleep last night, but he was also the first one to wake up. Yet, the process was not pleasant. He wasn't sure if he was running a fever that would cause dreams like the one he was having, but it was terrible. He could see his wife and hear her say she loved him. Her pure, light, cute giggle turning into a laugher, just like a mystery song calming everyone's nerves. But then there was a crash, sound of some breaking glass and her terrible scream. She was screaming after she saw him murder the guy she's bee sleeping with. He knew she did wrong, but he also could feel deep inside that she still was the woman of his life, but he hurt her just like she hurt him. Her desperate cry grew louder and louder, making his head spin, when he suddenly woke up, breathing heavily. He quickly looked around and the memories of the last night hit him. Clementine, Karen, going out at night, Shawn and Andre, ride at the police car, the farm... he remembered it all and on top of it, weird growling undead monsters going around, hurting people.

He tried to calm himself, lying back down, but he had a serious issue with falling back asleep with his wife's voice still ringing in his head. He started turning, trying to get comfy, but it failed as well. He glanced over to the girls and made sure he didn't wake them up by his behavior, but they were both still asleep. He sighed lying on his back and closed his eyes in hope to fall asleep as soon as possible. Yet, he lied for hours without drifting away.

"Hey, get up." a voice made him open his eyes.

Lee blinked a few times and saw a man above him. He looked like he was in his Mid-40s, he had black hair and a mustache in the same color. He was wearing a cap, brown with a white spot on its front, and a light yellow, maybe beige, T-shirt with some logo with a fish. He seemed nice at first glance and there was nothing making anyone believe it was any different. Karen also woke up, stretching her arms while eyeing the man. She was alerted by the stranger's presence at first, but then remembered Greenies mentioning a "family of three" sleeping in the barn. She figured she had to be one of them.

"I'm itchy." Clementine said, getting up and looking around the place.

"Well, you slept in a barn, little lady. Lucky you don't have spiders in your hair." the man joked. Clementine gasped and started looking at her hair as much as she could. Karen knew it was a joke, yet she still felt unsettled by any mentioning of them. "But I bet your daddy scared 'em all away, huh?" the man said, calming Clementine down.

"I'm not her dad. Neighter of them. Name's Lee." Lee greeted.

"I'm Kenny." the stranger introduced himself.

"I'm Karen, and that's-" Karen said only to be cut off with someone screaming and running over to the barn.

"DAAAD!" a young, yet older than Clem boy shouted, leaning against the door. "We're gonna build a fence, there's a tractor and everything!" the boy cheered.

"We better get going or we won't hear the end of it." Kenny commented, leading toward the exit. "That's my boy, Ken Junior. We call him Duck, though." Kenny explained on the way.

"Duck?" Lee asked surprised.

"Why is that?" Karen asked and couldn't help but smile after hearing the boy's nickname.

"It's 'cos nothing bothers him. Like water off a duck's back, y'know?" Kenny explained.

"That's a valuable trait lately." Lee noticed.

"No kidding. But frankly, I think it's because he's dumb as a bag of hammers." Kenny admitted.

"DAAAAD!" the boy shouted again, still in front of the small chatting group.

"But he makes up for it with enthusiasm." Kenny said, looking at his son.

Finally, everyone approached the house. Now everyone could see how Duck looked like. He had short, brown hair, eyes the same color and a lot of freckles on his cheeks. He was wearing a blue and red checkered shirt with short sleeves and a pair of jeans. He was next to a woman in her late-30s, maybe early-40s. She had medium blond hair and light blue eyes, she was wearing a yellow T-shirt with red flowers on it and a brown pair of trousers. She was sitting on some hay next to the porch and was rubbing boy's hair making it obvious it was obvious that she was his mother, which was also making her Kenny's wife.

"The word is you were o your way to Macon." Kenny said and Karen glanced over to Lee.

"My family is from there." Lee explained.

"Well, Macon's on the way and, personally, I'd appreciate the company of a guy who can knock a couple of heads together if he has to." Kenny said.

"Sure, we'll... tag along." Lee said. Karen wanted to argue over it, but figured that it'd be better to move and stick around the people she met.

"It's a plan, then." Kenny said with a smile. "Honey, Duck, these are Lee, Karen, and... uh, what's the girl's name?" Kenny tried to introduce the three to his family.

"Clementine." Lee said, looking down at the girl.

"Clementine." Kenny repeated.

"That is a very pretty name." the woman said, smiling at Clem.

"Thanks." Clem said shyly.

"I'm Katjaa, nice to meet you all." the woman introduced herself.

"Morning." Shawn greeted, approaching. "Well, we should get to work. We've all seen what those things can do out there so the faster we get this fence up, the better." he announced.

"I wanna build a fence!" Duck cheered.

"Yeah? Well, I need a good foreman. You can sit on the tractor and yell at me whenever I take a water break." Shawn offered.

"On the tractor? Cool!" the boy said amazed.

"Duck and I will hop to it." Shawn said, turning around. Duck followed him with a huge smile on his face.

"I can keep an eye on your girls here on the porch. We can visit." Katjaa offered to Lee.

"Sure, thanks." Karn said, sitting down next to the woman. Lee approached them a moment later.

"Hey there, girls." he greeted and then turned to the oldest woman. "So... what do you do when... corpses aren't walking around?" he asked.

"I'm a veterinarian back at Fort Lauderdale - Like Hershel, here, expect more with dogs and cats and not horses." Katjaa admitted. Karen's tree was close to the porch, so she overheard it.

"Who's Hershel?" she asked, looking around.

"Oh, forgot to tell you. That's Shawn's father." Lee explained to her real quick.

"What is it that you do?" Katjaa asked.

"I am still a student, I'm only 17." Karen admitted.

"And I used to teach up at the University of Georgia." Lee said.

"We need to HOPE that we can go back to our jobs soon, Lee. Back to normal. It can't stay like this." Katjaa corrected him, hearing him use the past tense.

"Oh, no, I... decided to quit this summer. I have no longer job here." Lee said awkwardly.

"Oh, I see. But we'll all be home soon." Katjaa tried to cheer everyone.

"How did you handle going through the city?" Lee asked the woman.

"Kenny just... drove. We passed so many people that needed help. And... we just... passed people, over some. Just... just..." Katjaa shuttered.

"Hey, it's okay, it's fine. You don't have to say anymore." Lee tried to calm her.

"Yeah, it's in the past. Now we're safe and that's all that matters." Karen joined in.

"I'll take a look around, call me if you need anything." Lee said, leaving.

"Were you going to school, Clem?" Karen asked.

"Yeah. First grade is very easy." the girl replied.

"For you? Of course." Karen laughed. "Oh, by the way, Katjaa, being a vet, do you have any animals yourself?" she asked.

"Actually, yes. We have a Labrador named Franklin back at Florida." the woman said. "I hope he has enough food." she added.

"All right, I'll go stretch my legs, you two stay here and try to relax before breakfast." Karen said, getting up.

She followed around, overhearing Lee admitting to Kenny that he had no kids. Yet, she passed them without a word and ended up walking around the house. She could see two young girls, one with two ponytails and one wearing glasses, both had dark hair and were wearing what seemed to be pajamas and were looking through the window. Karen figured those were Susie and Rachel, Shawn's sisters. Then Maggie got to them and said something which caused the girls to go further into the house. Karen made a few more rounds and then stopped next to Shawn and Duck. The younger boy was playing happily on the tractor and Shawn was working while talking with Lee.

"I'm sorry about your friend." Lee said, handing Shawn a couple of boards.

"Thanks. I appreciate it." Shawn said sadly.

"You holding up okay?" Karen asked, leaning over on the tractor.

"Yeah. I manage." Shawn said, looking down. "Anyway, Lee, when you see my dad around, he might want some help at the barn." he added.

"I'll go look for him, then." Lee said, walking away.

"Do you need a hand?" Karen offered.

"No, Lee already helped me." Shawn replied.

"Okay, I'll go check on Clem then." she said walking away.

She walked over and could hear the girls talking about some stuff. She gladly realized that the younger girl was starting to feel more comfortable around the woman. She approached and sat next to them, wanting to join the conversation.

"You having a good time with Katjaa?" she asked.

"Yeah." Clem answered with a smile.

"Good. Do you-" Karen tried to ask but was cut off by a terrible, bloodcurdling scream.

It kept going, after the screaming person ran out of breath they just took another one and kept screaming in pain and maybe fear. All three girls sat frozen for a moment, not daring to look around. Karen was the first one to break through this feeling. He got up and ran to the source of the sound, the place where Shawn and Duck were working. On her way, Lee caught up to her and they got there the same moment to see a terrible image. Shawn was lying on the ground, screaming and his leg was under one of the tractor's wheels. Duck was still on its top, yet seemed to be terrified now. And what was worse? Monsters that were in the city were around here as well. One caught Duck and tried to pull him off from the tractor while two at least were leaning over the fence, trying to reach Shawn.

Lee stood frozen, thinking, and Karen waiter for his move. Eventually, the man headed to the younger boy in order to help. Karen turned her head and ran up to Shawn, catching his hands and trying to pull him away. Yet, his leg was stuck. Karen wouldn't give up, she looked over to Lee to see if the man was doing any better. He was punching the monster that was trying to pull Duck off while Kenny was pulling his son to him, eventually getting him out of monster's grip. Karen realized that the fence was about to snap and saw a board on the ground. She let go of Shawn and picked it up, hitting the closest monster in the face. It came back a moment later, but she already had an idea. She put the board so it would keep the fence up just for a moment longer and picked up another board, putting it under the tractor's wheel. She pushed it, trying to give Shawn's leg some space at least.

"Get your leg out!" she ordered.

"I'm trying!" Shawn answered through clenched teeth.

"Lee, get this tractor moving!" Karen shouted and Lee immediately got closer to the wheel.

"Yeah, but how?!" he shouted, looking at it. 

He finally saw something that looked like pedals, so he pressed one of them with his hand. He used the other one to turn the wheel, but unfortunately, he pressed the wrong one and the machine only crushed Shawn's leg harder. Yet, it helped a little to get it onto the board. Karen put it only a little higher and then blocked it with her shoulder and tried to pull Shawn's leg out. She immediately pulled the board out and went behind him, when she heard the fence crush. One of the monsters laded on top of Shawn, biting him painfully in his side. The other one took a few steps and also landed on the man, going for his neck. Karen smashed it with the board and it bit his arm instead. She smashed both of them and then caught Shawn, dragging him away. Yet, by crawling they wouldn't get far. Then, when one of the monsters was close again, a couple of shots rang out.

_**Bang! Bang! Bang!** _

Karen looked behind herself and she saw Hershel with a gun. The man immediately lowered it after the monsters were taken care of and ran up to the two. Shawn had some nasty wounds and his leg was a mess, yet he managed a smile.

"I'm okay, pop... I'm okay..." he assured his father. 

"I can fix you, don't worry, we'll patch you up." Hershel said, touching his son's good shoulder.

"It almost... almost got me, man." Shawn said, breathing heavily. It seemed that now, that the adrenaline had fallen, he was finally feeling pain from the bites.

"I know, son. Let's get you up and into the house." Hershel said with a smile.

"It was a close call. Let me help you." Karen said, lifting Shawn alongside with Hershel. Lee caught up to them a second later.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know the tractor worked like that." he excused himself.

"It's fine, I'm okay." Shawn said, turning his head as much as the wound on the shoulder let him.

After a moment Hershel was taking care of Shawn's wounds with Lee's and Katjaa's assistance, Kenny was doing something with his pickup parked near the barn and Karen was typed out to watch over kids. She made sure Duck was handling what just happened good and checked if Clementine watched it happen. Unfortunately, she did. The little girl didn't feel well after seeing Shawn almost getting eaten alive, but she was handling it way better than she was expected to. After some time outside they all got to the house, wanting to see how was Shawn's treatment going.

"How is he?" Clementine asked shyly.

"He'll be fine, Clementine. He just needs some time." Katjaa said, calming everyone a little.

"Okay." Clem nodded.

"I think his wounds got infected, but it's fine. We can have breakfast ready within 15 minutes." Hershel said, getting a closer look at his son's arm.

"I think we'll be heading out now." Kenny said, entering the room.

"But Kenny, we didn't eat anything yet.

"I can give you some food you'll eat down the road." Hershel offered.

"That'd be very appreciable." Kenny replied. Hershel left the room and a moment later returned with some bag.

"There's enough food for a day, I believe you'll be at your homes by then." he said, handing it to Kenny.

"Thank you. So, goodbye." Kenny said gratefully.

"See you, Shawn. It was nice to get to know you, Mr. Greenie. Take care!" Karen said.

"Yeah, you two be safe." Lee said.

"We will be. Same goes to you." Shawn said, smiling through the pain.

"Look out in case those things come, we all saw what they can do." Hershel warned them.

"We'll keep an eye out, don't worry." Lee assured.

"Good. Get moving then, the faster you get homes, the better." Hershel said and Kenny, Katjaa, Duck, Lee, Karen, and Clementine left the house.

"If you weren't sure, you got that ride to Macon." Kenny reassured the last three.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you see, I let Shawn live yet get bit, but shhh.. not everyone knows. Also, in comics, Hershel mentioned that his son was bitten and lived some time after it, so I made it somewhat canonical??? Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story so far!


	7. It's just one bullet

Karen was enjoying the ride and was sad they'd have to say goodbye to Kenny, Katjaa, and Duck soon, but at least they were in Macon. Whatever was in Macon that made it so important for Lee to pick this place out of all the other cities around Atlanta, including Atlanta itself. Suddenly, the car stopped. Was that it? The moment of goodbye? Kenny sighed.

"Well, this is as far as we're going." he said, getting out.

"Then it's far enough." Lee replied, also getting out.

"We're out of gas?" Karen asked, nearly jumping out.

"Yep. Let's ask around to see if someone has any to borrow." Kenny replied, looking around.

And so, everyone got out and started walking down the road. They didn't have to go far before Duck, who was running in front of the others, spotted a man kneeling by a car. The boy smiled wider, feeling like he's helping.

"Look!" he said, pointing at him.

"Hey there!" Kenny shouted, waving his hands around. "You friendly? Truck's ran out of gas." he added.

"Uh... I..." Karen started, but the man turned around. He was most likely dead. He had white skin, lost a lot of hair and had blood dripping down his face. He was  _eating_ something. Some _one_ probably.

"FUCK!" Kenny swore, turning around and ready to run. Behind the dead guy, there were others, similar to him. And all around. They surrounded the group.

"We're trapped!" Katjaa realized.

"Get behind me!" Karen said, pulling Clementine closer.

"WAAH!" Duck screamed, being slammed by one of those things. "AAH! NO! NO!" he was screaming, trying to push it off.

"Get off of him!" Karen shouted, grabbing the thing and trying to pull it off, just like she did when Sandra attacked Lee.

_**Bang!** _

A shot rang out and the thing stopped moving. Now Karen was able to push it off and Duck ran to his terrified parents. Karen backed up to get to Clementine and she saw Lee covering her from the unknown shooter. The man grabbed Karen and also covered her, making her stand next to the shaking little girl. Karen slowly touched Clem's arm.

"It's okay. We'll be fine." Karen promised to the girl.

The shooter turned out to be a woman in her 20s. She had brown, short hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a white shirt and a black skirt, yet she was holding a gun and shooting all the undead monsters around. Behind her there was a young Asian guy, not older than 20, having black hair and brown eyes, had some facial hair that couldn't be called a beard though, he was wearing a blue and white cap, red T-shirt with some yellow logo, a brown leather jacket and a pair of jeans. He seemed very disturbed.

"RUN!" the man shouted while the woman was covering the group.

And so, everyone ran. The two strangers led them into a drug store and on their way inside the Asian guy, who was the last to come in, locked the outside gate with a padlock, making sure the monsters wouldn't follow. Inside, there were more strangers. Two men and a woman. One man was in his late 20s, had short brown hair and eyes, was wearing a green T-shirt with a small logo with a bear on it and brown shorts. The other one was older, probably in his late 50s, had grey hair, light brown eyes, blue polo shirt, and light brown jeans. The woman was probably in her mid-30s, she had brown, long hair and eyes the same color. She was wearing a black T-shirt on straps and a pair of jeans. The younger man was keeping the door closed after everyone entered, the older man was on the other side of the group and the woman approached the one with a gun.

"We can't take risks like that!" she shouted.

"And we can't just let people die, either!" the woman with a gun answered.

"When I SAY "That door stays shut no matter what" I fucking MEAN it!" the first woman argued. "We don't know who these people are; they could be dangerous!"

"Whoa, chill the fuck out, lady. We're just people trying to avoid those things, just like you!" Lee joined in, trying to protect the group.

"Don't come in here and swear at me!" the older woman answered.

"I'll say whatever I want if you start treating these people." Lee said, taking a step forward.

"You'll have to excuse her." the woman with the gun spoke.

"The hell he, or ANYONE will!" the older one growled. "This is about survival, do you guys not see what's happening?" she questioned. Clementine grabbed Lee's hand.

"What is it?" the man asked.

"I... I have to pee." the girl said ashamed.

"In a minute, Clem." Lee said.

"They've got kids, Lilly!" the Asian man said.

"Those things outside don't care." Lilly, the older woman pointed out.

"Maybe you should go join 'em, then? You'll have something in common!" Kenny shouted.

"She's an asshole, that's for sure..." Lee mumbled.

"That's what it takes." Lilly answered.

"But you don't have to be a bitch about it." Lee growled.

"Holy shit! Son of a bitch, one of them was bitten!" the older man shouted, looking at Katjaa cleaning Duck, since the boy had dead guy's blood on him.

"He was not bitten, I pulled that thing, it couldn't do anything before that woman shot it!" Karen stood up for the boy.

"Hell he wasn't?!" the man asked. "We have to end this now." he said, turning to Duck and approaching.

"Over my dead body." Kenny said, standing in his way.

"We'll dig one hole." the man answered.

"No! I'm cleaning him up! There's no bite! He's fine!" Katjaa shouted, looking her son over.

"Don't you people fucking get it? We've already SEEN it happen! We let someone with a bite stay and- and we all end up bitten." the older man didn't give up.

"Shut up!" Kenny yelled at him.

"We gotta throw him out! Or, smash his head in!" he answered, looking around for some weapon.

"Kenny, stop him!" Katjaa cried out.

"Lee, what do we do about this guy?" Kenny asked.

"We reason with him." Lee answered, not wanting some fight to go up between those people.

"With the bloody end of an axe-handle, maybe! Nobody threatens my boy." Kenny growled, eyeing the man.

"Everyone CHILL THE FUCK OUT!" the woman with a gun shouted.

"Nobody is doing ANYTHING!" Lilly joined in.

"Shut up, Lilly." the man silenced her. "And YOU." he added, turning to the armed woman. "Shut the fuck up. They will find us and they will get in here, and none of this will fucking matter! But right now we're about to be TRAPPED in here with one of those things!"

"What the hell are you talkin' about?" Kenny asked.

"He's bitten! That's how you turn!" Larry shouted.

"He's not bitten! Lee, stop this, it's upsetting him." Katjaa cried out.

"Oh? I'm upsetting him? Upsetting is getting eaten alive!" the old man shouted.

"What if it was your child?" Karen asked.

"NEVER woulda' happened! Lilly's not some snot nose toddler, ok? She's United States Air Force." he argued. So Lilly was his daughter?

"Oh, fuck you AND her!" Kenny shouted. "I'm gonna kill him, Kat! Just worry about Duck." he warned.

"Karen!" Clementine half-whispered and half-shouted. 

"What is it?" the girl asked, spotting the little girl next to the bathroom's entrance.

"There's someone in there." Clementine explained.

"It's just locked." Lee broke in. "Key's behind the counter. Uh, probably."

"Hang on, I'm coming. And you better not do ANYTHING to that boy." Karen warned the old man and came closer to Clementine.

She found the key right where Lee guessed it could be and got closer to the bathroom door, listening to the man still arguing to kill or throw out Duck in the background. She could already tell that if they'd stay longer with that group for some reason, she was not going to like him. She gave Clem the key and turned to see Kenny punch the man in the jaw. The man answered with a punch, sending Kenny to the ground and making Katjaa flinch. Lee was about to get into the fistfight with him as well, but then a scream rang out dangerously close to Karen. She turned around and saw Clementine next to the bathroom, from which a dead guy crawled out. He grabbed the little girl by the leg.

"Jesus!" the old man swore.

Karen didn't think much of it, she jumped in and pulled Clementine away, then hid her behind her and started backing up, but the dead guy grabbed her instead. She fell down, pushing Clementine even further from the monster and tried to kick it, but failed, and it got on top of her within seconds. She tried to keep it off of her, avoiding its mouth now, that she knew that a bite could kill. She kept struggling until two hands pulled it off of her. It was Lee, trying to save her and ending up being attacked instead. Karen tried to look for any weapon that could help to fight the monster off, but another shot rang out in the store.

_**Bang!** _

There was the woman from before, with her pistol still aimed at the monster. Lee pushed its body off of him and sighed in relief. The gun was slowly lowered.

"You okay?" the woman asked.

"Just great, thanks." Lee answered, straightening up.

"I'm fine." Karen answered. Then, some growling could've been heard in the distance, getting closer. Getting louder. Monsters heard the shot and came to get in, to find out what was happening. TThe Asian guy was the first one to notice, getting everyone's attention.

"Uhh... guys?" he asked, looking at the door. Those things were banging on the boarded windows, on the locked gate, on the walls, on anything, just to get in. To eat. Everyone turned to see if monsters were breaking through, panic rising with every second, with every bang.

"Everybody DOWN! Stay QUIET!" the older woman ordered, hissing quietly.

Everyone hid behind the store shelves, being as quiet as possible. Lee was there, ready to protect Karen and Clementine if needed, sticking close to them. Everyone sat down, keeping their heads low. They were waiting, waiting, waiting... losing hope, until a lot of shooting was hearable in the distance, distracting the monsters, dragging them away. Lee stood up with Clementine curled up next to him and Karen next to her, trying to calm herself down.

"Is that the military?" Lee asked, looking around.

"I don't know." the older woman answered.

"Thank god for whatever this is." the Asian guy commented.

"We almost DIED because of this bitch and her itchy trigger finger!" the old man started screaming, walking around mad. "That was stupid! That was-" he didn't finish, he caught his chest out of sudden, moaning something, and fell to the ground.

"DAD!" the woman shouted running up to him. She knelt beside him, looking him over.

"Was he bitten?" Karen asked, stepping away. Everything could be possible.

"NO. Don't be crazy!" the woman hissed. "It's his heart." she explained.

"I did try to get him to calm down." Lee protected himself.

"Cut it, asshole." the woman shushed him.

"...My pills..." the man moaned.

"Uh-um... nitroglycerin pills?" Katjaa asked.

"YES. We're out. We've been trying to get into the pharmacy since we got here. Please, try to get in there. Behind the counter, where the pills are." the woman begged.

"We'll get in there somehow." Lee promised.

"Thank you so much." the woman thanked calmly. "I'll keep an eye on my dad." she added, helping the man to the corner, where he could rest his back on a wall.

"Everyone else should get comfy and look for anything useful. We could be in here a while." Kenny ordered.

"I'm starting to think this drug store isn't a permanent solution." the Asian guy mumbled.

"You're right, this ain't exactly Ft. Knox." Kenny agreed.

"You got something in mind?" Karen asked.

"Well, yeah. We need as much gas as possible so we can ALL get out of downtown Macon. Fast." the explained.

"Agreed." Lee answered.

"It'd be nice to get home after all." Karen agreed.

"Then I'll head out and get gas. There's a mote not too far from here, out towards the end of Peachtree. I'll work my way towards it and then loop back, siphoning what I can." he said.

"You know your way around? Local?" Lee asked.

"Born and raised." he answered.

"If you're going to do that, here's a walkie-talkie if you get in a tight spot. Hopefully, you won't need it." Lee said, handing the man the walkie.

"Cool." the man smiled, taking it. "I'm Glenn by the way." he introduced himself.

"I'm Karen, nice to meet you, and these are Lee, Clementine, Kenny, Katjaa, and Duck." Karen broke in.

"Clementine's got the other one. Check in with her and get back here as soon as you can." Lee ordered.

"And, you, what's your name?" Kenny asked, looking at the woman sitting with her hurt father.

"It's Lilly. And my father's Larry." she introduced herself.

"Keep a good eye o him, we'll work on getting you those pills." Kenny promised.

"That's right." Lee agreed.

"And you," Kenny said, pointing at the guy in shorts "you keep an eye on that front door. You're our look-out." he ordered

"It's Doug, you got it." the man agreed.

"And I'm Carley." the woman with a gun introduced herself.

"Okay, Carley, you'll shift in with Doug when he needs it. For now, get some rest - you're a good shot and I'd like to keep it that way." Kenny ordered.

"You got it boss." the woman agreed.

"Now get him those pills." Kenny ended.

Everyone did what they were ordered to, Karen sat down next to Clementine to assure the girl she wasn't alone, Kenny joined his family, Glenn headed out through a window in the office, Doug made sure nothing came in through the door, Carley sat down on a chair and took a closer look to a radio on it, Lilly made sure Larry wasn't getting any worse, and Lee was walking around, looking for anything useful. Eventually, he knelt next to the girls.

"Hey there." he greeted.

"Hi." Clementine answered.

"Can I, uh, get you anything?" he offered.

"I'm okay. Well, maybe I'm a little hungry." the girl admitted.

"I'll see about that." Lee promised, walking away, only to be back a moment later. "It's not much, but here you go." he said, handing the girl an energy bar.

"Thank you." Clementine thanked.

"So, uh..." Lee started.

"Are you okay?" Clem asked.

"What? Yeah, yeah, I- I'm fine, I just uhh, I'm good.

"That's good." Clementine said.

"Yeah, I think so. Being good is good. Despite the circumstances." Lee agreed awkwardly.

"Yep." Clementine nodded.

Lee walked away, leaving the two girls on their own. Karen was thinking. Thinking about what Larry said. The bite turns. That would mean... oh god, that would mean Shawn is dead! She thought she saved him, she thought she was able to help, but now? It turned out she just bought him an hour or two. Maybe some more, Larry didn't mention how long it takes to turn. Maybe he was wrong? Yeah, he must've been.

"Do you want some?" Clementine asked, snapping Karen out from her thought and offering a piece of her energy bar.

"Oh? No, no thanks, I'm not hungry. You better eat it." Karen answered and then sighed.

"Are you okay?" Clementine asked.

"Yeah, just thinking. I wonder if anyone could drop me home. I never had a driving license, my friend was usually the one driving." Karen said, since that thought was second on her mind.

"Oh. Okay." Clementine answered.

Then they went quiet. Lee found some more bars, giving one to Kenny and his family, the second one to Lilly and her father. He then came closer to Carley, helping her with the radio she's been working on. It turned out it had no batteries, but luckily there were some in the store, so soon enough they were inside of the machine that still refused to work. It took both of them a couple of minutes to check them again only to learn that they were put inside upside down. They put them in again, correctly, and then a voice was hearable in the room. Karen got up and approached to listen.

"The stations' okay!" Carley cheered. Karen thought she overheard her saying she was a reporter but wasn't sure until now.

"My producer is telling me we have to get off the air now." a man said and some crushes could be heard in the background.

"Steve...?" Carley whispered.

"WABE wishes you and your loved ones the strength to endure through this crisis." the man wished, crushes getting louder. "God bless you all. God bless the United States of Amer--" the man didn't get to finish, everything went quiet.

"Oh my... Carley, I'm sorry..." Karen said, looking at the quiet radio.

"I'm fine. Maybe they're being rescued. ...Then again, maybe not." Carley mumbled.

"Let's hope for the best." Karen said.

She decided to poke around, trying to be useful. She couldn't find any food at the first look and she wasn't so kin on talking to nor Larry and Lilly or Kenny and his family. There was just too much tension. She didn't want to bother Lee since he seemed to know what he was doing, she didn't want to bother Clementine and let her rest instead... Eventually, she came up to Doug, the guy by the door, considering offering him to switch up so he could catch a break.

"Hi, it's Doug, right?" she asked.

"Yep. And your name's Karen, isn't it?" the man asked, smiling friendly.

"Yeah. You see anything out there?" she asked.

"Nothing, luckily. It seems like they lost interest in getting in here. Want to step outside, take a look?" he offered. Karen laughed quietly.

"No thanks, I'm planning to make it home before I die." she answered.

"No, the gate's closed, it's safe to hang around." Doug explained.

"Oh, very well then, let's take a look." Karen said, getting closer.

"Ok, let's just keep it quiet." Doug responded, getting ready to open the door.

"It's for the best." Karen shrugged and followed the man outside. There, there were so many monsters wandering around... Karen gasped. "Jesus..." she whispered.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Doug mumbled, covering his mouth. Karen's eyes landed on a group of those things sitting next to each other, doing something.

"What are they doing?" she asked.

"They EAT. As far as I can tell that's the only thing they care about." Doug sighed.

"And if they get ahold of a human?" Karen asked, worried.

"They eat you, and whatever's left comes back as one of them." Doug explained sadly.

"And we send off Glenn into that mess?" Karen asked terrified of that.

"It was his call I think." Doug answered, sitting on the ground, next to the gate. Karen knelt beside him and they were just watching.

"So, how'd you end up here?" Karen asked.

"I moved here to live with my uncle. He does tech stuff and it just made sense." Doug explained.

"So you're from here? Do you know where the owners could leave the keys to the pharmacy? I'm taking it's closed, of course." Karen asked.

"It is, but I don't know where to look. Before you guys came we looked around the whole place, couldn't find them. And the owners... I didn't know them well. I've only been here and I spend a lot of time just doing my own thing." Doug answered.

"Oh, okay." Karen noted.

"How about you? How'd you end up where you are now?" the man asked.

"I... don't really know. One day I was just on a school trip and this suddenly happened. I tried to walk to Atlanta, then catch some ride home, but I ran into Clementine, the little girl, ended up hiding in a tree house with her. Then we met Lee and he promised to protect us, so we went with him, ran into a farmer and a cop, they took us to farmer's place, we spent the night there, met Kenny and his family... Kenny wanted to head home, down to Florida, Lee wanted to come to Macon, he lived there, I think? That's what he said in the car at least. I decided to tag along, thinking that maybe we'll reach Atlanta and I'll catch a ride home. We ran out of gas here." Karen shared her story.

"So you're still a student?" Doug made sure.

"Yeah. I hope I'll see my classmates again. They're one big pack of dumbasses, but even before it happened I wouldn't trade them for anything, and now? I just hope they're safe." Karen mumbled.

"They sound like they're cool. You're lucky, my high school friends would most likely sell me to get one candy bar." Doug joked.

"I guess all groups have 'this one guy'. We had him too, we'd probably sell his soul for a chicken nugget, but we actually liked him. He also had a driving license, so, you know, bonus points to coolness. But he was a nice guy even without it." Karen said, remembering her friends.

"How do you think the rest of the country is doing?" the man asked.

"I've heard Atlanta's bad, but I still hope for the best." Karen admitted.

"Yeah, that's good. We can't lose hope." Doug commented.

"Hey, look at that thing!" Karen pointed at a monster with its legs trapped under some massive pole.

"Damn, that's sad." Doug mumbled.

"It is, but look at his outfit! It seems like he could've worked in here." Karen noticed.

"So, do you think he died with keys in his pocket?" Doug asked.

"Yeah. I can go over there and snatch it." Karen offered.

"That doesn't seem safe. We'd have to distract all the monsters and smash up the padlock. I mean, unless you're good at lockpicking."

"Well, actually, if you could find me a needle or something..." Karen mumbled.

"Are you serious?" Doug asked.

"I'll see what I can do." Karen promised.

"Wait for me here, I think I saw one earlier." Doug said and got back into the building. He came back a moment later, holding something.

"And?" Karen asked.

"It's here." Doug handed the needle to her. She stuck it into the lock and focused on it. "Where'd you learn how to do it?" the man asked, looking at her working.

"For a bet. The guy did NOT see that coming and owed me... what was it again? I think it might've been paying for fast foods for the whole group." Karen smiled. Something clicked and the lock opened. Karen smiled. "There we go." she mumbled.

"Woah, that was fast." Doug commented.

"Thanks. Now we only need a distraction." Karen said and headed back to the store, followed by the man. She could easily see that Lee, Clementine, and Carley were missing. "Did you see where Lee, Clem, and Carley went?" she asked Doug.

"I think I saw Carley walk into that room there. Office, I guess?" Doug answered, pointing to a door. 

Before Karen could make he way towards the room the three left it. Clementine seemed down, Lee stressed and Carley worried-annoyed-proud or something. The little girl took a seat right where she sat before while Carley eyed Lee returning to her spot with the radio. Lee returned the gaze and the two just stared at each other. When they stopped, Karen approached the man.

"What was it about?" she asked.

"Nothing serious." Lee assured fastly.

"...Okay then." Karen mumbled. She went to take a seat next to Clementine when suddenly the younger girl's walkie went off.

"Hey there, this is Glenn and uh, I'm kinda in a jam here." the voice on the radio said and Karen gasped. "Uh, little girl, if you're there, can you put your daddy on the phone. Or on the walkie, or whatever?" the man asked. Before Lee was halfway there Karen already took the radio.

"It's not Lee, it's Karen. What happened? How bad is it?" she asked worriedly.

"So... uh, I'm down at that Motor Inn and, well, I- I'm stuck. I'm not hurt or anything, I just- can't really get away." the man answered, ashamed.

"How'd you get into this mess?" Karen asked.

"I just saw a chance to get some supplies for everyone when a bunch of the roaming ones jumped on me. I hid, but they're not leaving." Glenn explained as Lee walked over. So did Kenny.

"What's up?" Kenny asked.

"He's stuck." Karen explained as Lee took the walkie.

"Hey Glenn, it's Lee, we're gonna talk this over and send someone to get you, all right?" he promised.

"Phew, awesome. I'll sit tight 'til then." the man sighed in relief and then went quiet.

"Sounds good." Lee agreed and he gave the walkie back to Clem. Kenny sighed.

"All right, any volunteers?" he asked.

"I don't think Doug's great around these things and you have your family here. Lilly is taking care of her dad... I think I can take Carley and her dead-eye down to the Motor-inn, get Glenn and get back as fast as we can. I still have some stuff to move in the office." Lee came up with a plan.

"If that's what you wanna do..." Kenny sighed.

"Somebody's got to." Lee answered.

"Yeah, I'm in." Carley agreed.

"I volunteer. I can go instead of Lee and he can move this stuff." Karen offered.

"I think it'll be better if I go." Lee insisted.

"No. The faster you do what you need to in the office, the better. Also, I'm out of ideas about how to distract the walkers and we might've located the keys. Talk to Doug to learn more. And I can be really quiet, I won't get any attention from those things." Karen said.

"I'm okay with that, she's making some points." Carley admitted.

"Fine, but you two be careful." Lee sighed.

"Of course. Clemmy, listen to Lee while I'm away, okay?" Karen asked and the little girl nodded. "You have anything to do or can we head out now?" she asked.

"Let's go. The faster we get there, the better." Carley announced.

The two women headed out, quickly making their way down to the Motor Inn Glenn talked about. Slowly, they could see it. Luckily, they only saw a couple of monsters on their way there and dodged them all. The only weapon they had was Carley's gun and they needed to save bullets. They reached the place and looked around. A couple of those things were roaming around, but none close enough to spot them. Then, suddenly, an entrance to what seemed to be a basement moved a couple of times. Carley pointed the gun at it, ready to shoot.

"Glenn?" Karen asked and the door almost swung open, reviling the Asian man with a worried expression.

"GUYS! Oh man, I'm glad you're here." he said, quickly jumping out and joining the group.

"Jesus, Glenn!" the older woman hissed.

"I'm glad you're okay." Karen smiled at the man.

"Can we get out of here before any of these things notice us?" Carley asked.

"Not yet. There's a survivor trapped up there." Glenn pointed at two monsters up on a second floor, banging on the door.

"No way. We gotta go. NOW." Carley protested.

"LISTEN. I was out there looking for gas." Glenn started "And then, up there in the corner room, I've heard crying coming from inside. It's a girl. We talked and she got frightened. I was trying to get in and help her and she started yelling and saying I was bitten. I tried to convince her I wasn't and that's when all of these guys came out of the forest. A couple almost got me and I ended up hiding in an ice machine." he explained.

"So it's not a basement." Karen mumbled to herself, making the man chuckle despite the situation.

"Lucky you, now let's go!" Carley hissed.

"We can't just leave her." Glenn protested.

"Yeah, we gotta help her!" Karen broke in, serious this time.

"You are both suicidal. Over a stranger!" Carley hissed.

"I'm saving her, with or without you." Glenn stated.

"I have your back here Glenn." Karen promised, eyeing Carley. The woman sighed.

"Fine. Let's save Glenn's damsel in distress. Any idea how are we supposed to do it?" she frowned in annoyance. Karen hesitated.

"Do you trust me?" she asked.

"Probably enough. What's on your mind?" Carley answered.

"Can you see that fire ax?" she asked, pointing to the middle of the Motor Inn.

"Yeah, what about it?" Glenn wanted to know.

"Later. I need you all to return to the ice machine. Can it hold you both?" she asked.

"Well, probably, but I don't think it'll close that way." Glenn explained.

"That's enough. So, you both get in there and wait until the monsters clear out. Then get to the ax and save that girl." Karen explained. The two other people nodded and lazily got into the ice machine. As Glenn guessed, it wasn't closing.

"Wait. What are you doing?" Glenn asked, frowning.

"Something stupid and irresponsible but I'm 17 so that's perfectly fine." Karen smiled.

"Wait, I promised Lee to make sure you're safe!" Carley hissed. Karen sighed.

"You're doing an amazing job." She cheered and then ran off, waving her arms around to attract the monsters. "Hey, rotten faces! Here! Catch me if you can, slowpokes!" I cheered and felt a lot of gazes on me. Well, not quite gazes, their eyes were empty, but I surely had their attention.

"Damnit, Karen!" Carley cussed.

"Stay in the ice machine! There's nothing you're doing anyway and if you head out you might make it useless since the whole plan is depending on me getting them away and you getting the ax!" Karen explained, slowly moving back into the forest.

"Behind you!" Glenn called out, breaking the silence once again. 

As Karen turned around she was almost grabbed by one of the few monsters that came out of the forest. When she planned to lure them back into the woods she didn't consider finding more inside. She tripped, falling to the ground in between two groups of those things. Luckily, they were hella slow so she was able to crawl away and get up before any of them got ahold of her. With adrenaline rush to help her, she was very quick to run away with the monsters behind her. She lured them away from the Motor Inn after all!

As she ran into the city she was able to hide behind trash, staying unspotted as the walkers passed her hiding spot and wandered off into the city, leaving her behind. She got up from her sitting position and ran back to the Motor Inn. As she approached she could see Carley, Glenn and a girl she didn't know talk in front of the room. She ran up to them and she could already feel that something was wrong. The tension was just pointing it out.

"Hello." she greeted the woman. She had brown short hair and her nose and eyes seemed reddish, giving out that she had just been crying. She had a big wound on her left side. "I'm Karen, and you?" she asked. In the meantime, she nodded to Carley and Glenn to let them know she was fine.

"...Irene." the woman answered with her voice shaking.

"Is something wrong?" Karen asked.

"Yes. She's been bitten and asks to give the gun to shoot herself!" Carley somewhat growled.

"Hey, what the hell?! No way we're doing that!" Karen protested immediately.

"THANK YOU!" Glenn said and now the girl knew that only the new woman wanted to get the gun.

"Give it to me, please!" Irene pleaded.

"This is crazy!" Glenn cried out.

"Please, step back." Carley threatened after she realized the girl was getting closer.

"It's just two seconds, one bullet, and I can be with my family, and it'll all be fine." the woman was still begging.

"Irene..." Karen started.

"Back up!" Carley shouted as the woman suddenly leaped on her, going for the gun.

"PLEASE!" she cried out, struggling. Both Karen and Glenn immediately stepped in, trying to get her away from both Carley and the gun.

"Irene, stop, this is crazy! We can talk this out!" Karen was trying to convince her when suddenly the wooden balcony they were standing on snapped under them, making everyone fall.

Karen was lucky enough to simply slide down the wood and avoid serious injuries. Gun fell out from Carley's hands as she tried to soften the hit with her hands. Glenn fell onto his back, but based on the speed he got up in, he didn't break anything. Yet he struggled to catch his balance for a moment, even after Karen got up. Now only Carley was sitting on the ground. And Irene was holding the gun to her head.

"Irene, please, there's no need to do this! We can help you! I- I can do it for you!" Karen said and the woman stopped.

"You would?" she asked. Karen hesitated.

"Are you sure it's the only way out? Maybe there's some doctor with a cure just another corner? Just think this through, you don't want to do this, no one does..." Karen was convincing her and getting closer, planning to go for the gun. The woman just laughed.

"This world is hell." she said before she tried to pull the trigger.

"NO!" Karen cried out, jumping to her and trying to lower the gun.

One second she was still trying to do this, the second one there was a loud bang and blood spilled all over her face. Its metallic smell made Karen's stomach turn upside down before she realized what happened. Irene dropped the gun and wrapped her hands around her throat. She took a couple of steps back as a red liquid started dripping through her fingers, reliving that she was shot in the neck. She stumbled over her own legs, soon meeting the ground. Karen's hands were uncontrollably shaking as she fought the urge to cover her mouth with them, knowing they were also soaked up with the liquid.

"I'm sorry..." she was able to only whisper quietly as Irene was drifting away.

"It was just... one... bullet..." the woman chocked out and gave up, drifting away. And the three stood there, terrified and realizing how bad the world was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took hella long and is hella long, but the upcoming 2 should be shorter. I hope that you're enjoying the fact that Karen does some stuff differently than Lee. Also, I just adore one conversation I wrote in this chapter:  
> "Hold up. What are you doing?"  
> "Something stupid and irresponsible but I'm 17 so that's perfectly fine."  
> "Wait, I promised Lee to make sure you're safe!"  
> "You're doing an amazing job."  
> And then the 17-year-old girl ran off to scream around as many walkers as possible with no weapon to use.  
> Stay tunned I guess

**Author's Note:**

> That's it, now Karen won't make it home. Now she'll be taking care of Clementine, hiding in her tree house and praying for rescue. But I think we all know that it won't last. That people will come, situations will change and many will lose their lives.


End file.
